TRUMBULL COLLEGE: Pre-Fall term Dean’s Notes
Hello, Trumbullians!! Welcome (again :)) Trumbull Frosh and Transfer students! Welcome back to everyone else! With so many folks returning yesterday, campus is suddenly and almost fully back to life. I love that “new academic year” energy – Happy New Year! ;)
For those of you who are *new* to Trumbull, this is our first “Dean’s Notes” issue of the year. Alice and I know how much e-mail you receive. For that reason, we put together ONE e-mail per week that includes a LOT of important information. We acknowledge that there’s a lot of text, but please note that it will always be organized into sections (Academics/Deadlines at the beginning à Tutoring, Fellowships, etc à Items to “take note” of across campus). At minimum, I strongly encourage you to get into the habit of quickly scanning this message each week and reading the sections relevant/interesting to you in more depth. As I said to the frosh in a speech last week, in addition to workshops/fellowship deadlines/info sessions that Alice updates weekly, other offices on campus know that the RC Deans send these newsletters, so they send prize/job/fellowship opportunities that we typically include in the Take Note section at the end (which will start appearing next week). Thank you for reading!
Upper-level Trumbullians: I look forward to seeing you tomorrow morning, Tuesday, September 1st for the required check-in meetings for upper-level students (Class of 2029, 9am; Class of 2028, 9:45am; Class of 2027, 10:30am). Bring your Yale ID card and meet us in the Dining Hall. If you have e-mailed me over the last week or so and I haven’t responded, please feel free to linger after your class meeting to get answers to your questions! :)
Have a wonderful week and enjoy the start of classes! Wishing you all the best!
Note: If you simply click “reply” to e-mails from our office that utilize the Yale Messaging system, Alice and I do not receive the e-mail (if the address is @message.yale.edu, then the e-mails are lost somewhere in cyberspace!), so please %20alice.kustenbauder@yale.edu">email us directly! Thanks!
Meeting with me – please take note of my open Zoom hours (below)
To make an appointment, please use the Calendly scheduling tool, https://calendly.com/dean_c, or reach out to Alice with any scheduling issues. For in-person meetings, please come to the office. We’re right here in Trumbull G104, which you can access across from Entryway A or through Entryway G. Zoom meetings (including open Zoom office hours) will be through my Zoom page: https://yale.zoom.us/my/skchandhoke.
My OPEN ZOOM office hours for each week are listed on the top of my Calendly page (there’s a small text blurb at the top of the page that is updated regularly). When you click on the Zoom link, you will be placed into a waiting room. I will speak to students (one-on-one) in the order they “arrive”. My upcoming open hours are today, MONDAY Aug 31st (2-4pm) and TUESDAY Sept 1st (2-4pm), with additional hours to be added in the text blurb at the top of my Calendly page in the coming days.
Please note that I teach on Wednesday mornings during the fall term.
ACADEMICS
Important Notes on Course Enrollment
The University Registrar’s Office has a helpful section of their website devoted to course registration: https://registrar.yale.edu/registration. The “Registration FAQs” and “Key Registration Dates” are particularly useful! There are even registration video guides for using your registration worksheet!
The Add/Drop Period began last week. During Add/Drop, you may add courses (if the course is open or you have permission to enroll) and drop courses within Yale Course Search without a fee. Add/Drop ends at 5pm EDT on Friday, Sept 11th - the courses listed on your registration worksheet at 5pm on Friday, Sept 11th will constitute your fall course schedule.
Canvas Worksheets and Registration Worksheets are different! The Canvas worksheet – while useful for planning purposes – does not enroll you in courses. It only allows you to see the announcements and assignments of those courses during Drop/Add. To enroll in a course, you must include it on your registration worksheet. Read more on distinguishing the two worksheets in the Registration FAQs.
Overloads, Professional School Courses, and Other Petitions
Course Loads Requiring Special Permission: A schedule of 3.0 course credits or a schedule of 6.0 or 6.5 course credits needs Dean Chandhoke’s permission before the end of Add/Drop (September 11th 5pm). To request an overload or underload, make an appointment with me or visit my open Zoom hours. NOTE: Requesting an overload also requires you to complete an online form: Credit Overload Petition (Yale College).
Course Overlap Information: A student may not elect courses with meeting times that overlap, even if part of the course is recorded.
Professional School Courses: A schedule with a course in a professional school requires an additional form for each course to finalize enrollment and determine Yale College credit: the Professional School Course Enrollment Request (Yale College). School of Management courses require two forms. After receiving SOM’s approval using their form, attach a screenshot of that approval to the Professional School Course Enrollment Request (Yale College).
NOTE: If the system allows, you should also add the professional school course to your registration worksheet for 0.0 credit. If the request is approved, the University Registrar’s Office will apply the appropriate course credit to your schedule.
NOTE: Only four professional school credits can be offered toward the 36-credit requirement; however, students may enroll in more than four credits understanding that all courses will remain on the academic record and be included in the GPA even if not offered toward the 36-credit requirement.
NOTE: You cannot elect the CR/D/Fail option for courses at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences or at a professional school.
Credit for these courses on your transcript: When you put a Professional School course on your schedule, zero (0) course credits are recorded for the course until you submit your required form(s) and the Registrar’s Office determines the course credits for that course based on that. Some courses earn 1 course credit in Yale College and some earn 0.5 course credits (most commonly in SOM and EPH). Some do not earn credit. See historical determinations at https://registrar.yale.edu/graduate-and-professional-school-courses-for-yale-college-credit.
See the YCPS for details: https://catalog.yale.edu/ycps/academic-regulations/special-academic-arrangements/#Grad_and_Professional_Courses.
Independent Studies: (Directed Reading, Directed Research, etc. as listed by most departments). There are limits on the number that a student can enroll in during a given year and over four years. Enrolling in an independent study requires the additional permission of a Director of Undergraduate Studies. See the YCPS for details: http://catalog.yale.edu/ycps/academic-regulations/course-credits-course-loads. Such courses may not be used to fulfill any distributional requirements. Independent study courses, other than senior projects and certain other courses designated for A-F grading by the department offering the course, are graded Pass/Fail. Students cannot petition for a conversion from P/F to A-F; only the department or program offering the course may do so.
Double credit: If you are interested in petitioning to earn double credit in a single-credit course, please read the relevant section in the YCPS, and then consult with me. The deadline to submit this petition is Midterm, but I recommend that you do so well before that date.
Yale Degree Audit
Yale Degree Audit is a tool that tracks your progress toward the bachelor’s degree. You can learn about – and access! – Degree Audit at https://registrar.yale.edu/student-records/degree-audit. Degree Audit displays the Yale College degree requirements that you have already completed and those that are still pending. A “Look Ahead” feature shows you how future course enrollment might apply toward your degree. If you believe that academic information in your degree audit is incorrect, contact our office.
UPCOMING DATES AND DEADLINES
August 26 Add/drop period opens, 8am
September 1 Required check-in meetings for upper-level students
(Class of 2029, 9am; Class of 2028, 9:45am; Class of 2027, 10:30am)
Bring your Yale ID card and meet us in the Dining Hall
September 2 Fall classes begin.
September 4 Friday classes do not meet; Monday classes meet instead.
September 7 Labor Day; classes do not meet.
September 11 Add/drop period ends, 5pm
September 15 All students planning to complete degree requirements at the end of the fall term must file a petition by this date.
September 15 Students in their final term of enrollment must petition to complete the requirements of two majors by this date.
September 15 Students in their final term of enrollment planning to change their major, must by this date, declare as such in Yale Hub.
September 15 Students in their final term of enrollment planning to earn a certificate, must by this date, declare as such in Yale Hub.
September 16 Final deadline to apply for fall-term Leave of Absence.
September 16 Withdrawal from Yale College on or before this date entitles a student to a full rebate of fall-term tuition (Undergraduate Regulations).
TUTORING
Advising Resources: http://advising.yalecollege.yale.edu
Academic Strategies Program: https://poorvucenter.yale.edu/academic-strategies-program
Sc/QR Tutoring: https://poorvucenter.yale.edu/learning/help-with-stem/stem-tutoring
Language Tutoring: https://cls.yale.edu/programs/language-tutoring
Writing Center/Tutors/Partners: https://poorvucenter.yale.edu/undergraduates/undergraduate-writing-and-tutoring; https://poorvucenter.yale.edu/undergraduates/writing-center
Trumbull Writing Tutor: Adam Reid Sexton is the Trumbull College Writing Tutor. Adam teaches three courses in the English department (The Craft of Fiction, Reading and Writing the Modern Essay, and Writing About Music) and is a Critic in the graduate School of Art. During summer 2022 he taught Writing About Music for Yale in London. Adam is also a writer; his next book, Difficult Listening, is due to be published soon.
To meet with Adam, please reserve a half-hour by logging on to https://www.yalewco.com/index.php, and be sure to email him the document you want help with by 7am on the day of your appointment. Include the instructor’s prompt, your focus for the meeting, and when the paper is due. Adam looks forward to working with you!
CLASS SPECIFIC NOTES
FIRST-YEARS
First-Year Distributional Requirements: At the end of first year (after two terms of enrollment) the student’s record must record enrollment in at least one course credit in two of the three skills categories (WR, QR, and language). For a course with two distributional designations, only one or the other designation can be counted toward the distributional requirements; in other words, no double dipping. A course may, however, count toward both the requirements for a major and for a distributional requirement.
SOPHOMORES
Sophomore Year Distributional Requirement: At the end of sophomore year (after four terms of enrollment) the student’s record must record enrollment in at least one course credit in each disciplinary area (Hu, Sc, and So) and at least one course credit in each skills category (WR, QR, and language). For a course with two distributional designations, only one or the other designation can be counted toward the distributional requirements; in other words, no double dipping. A course may, however, count toward both the requirements for a major and for a distributional requirement.
JUNIORS
Junior Year Distributional Requirement: At the end of the junior year (after 6 terms of enrollment) a student’s record must show successful completion of all skills requirements: two course credits in QR, two course credits in WR, and language. A course completed CR cannot count toward a junior distributional requirement. For a course with two distributional designations, only one or the other designation can be counted toward the distributional requirements; in other words, no double dipping. A course may, however, count toward both the requirements for a major and for a distributional requirement.
SENIORS
Distributional Requirement for the degree: Successful completion of two course credits each in WR, QR, Hu, So, and Sc and completion of the language requirement. A course completed CR cannot count toward the distributional requirements for the Bachelor’s degree. For a course with two distributional designations, only one or the other designation can be counted toward the distributional requirements; in other words, no double dipping. A course may, however, count toward both the requirements for a major and for a distributional requirement.
Please also note that Tuesday, September 15th, is the deadline to file a petition for students planning to complete their degree requirements by the end of the fall term.

